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James Dickson Shaw (27 December 1841 – 3 December 1926) was an American freethinker and editor.

Life

James Dickson Shaw was born in Walker County, Texas, on 27 December 1841, the son of Granville Clifford and Mary A. (Manning) Shaw.

Shaw served in the Confederate Army, and was admitted to the Methodist ministry in 1870. He taught at Marvin College in Waxahachie and served on the editorial staff of The Christian Advocate.

, freethinker and editor of The Independent Pulpit

His early pastorates included the church at Mexia and Lancaster Bell, Texas. In 1878 he assumed the pastorate of the Fifth Street Methodist Church in Waco. In 1880 in a public meeting in Waco, Shaw was described as being an agnostic by a visiting phrenologist, Dr. O. S. Fowler. A short time later questions were raised concerning his orthodoxy. At the annual session of the Northwest Methodist Conference meeting in Cleburne, Texas, 1882, a motion was made to bring charges of heresy before a committee for examination. When Shaw appeared before the committee to defend his beliefs, he spoke concerning the inspiration of the scriptures, the divinity of Christ, the vicarious atonement, and the punishment of the wicked. At the conclusion of his address, he was asked to surrender his credentials because his views were "detrimental to religion and injurious to the church." Returning to Waco, Shaw gathered together some of the prominent men of the city and established the Religious and Benevolent Association on December 2, 1882. The association established a monthly magazine in 1883 called the Independent Pulpit to serve as a forum for the most liberal and independent thinkers on the moral, social, and intellectual questions of the day. Shaw served as editor of the publication. Subscribers to the twenty-four page monthly publication were not limited to Texas, but were found in states throughout the United States and other countries. Through the pages of this magazine Shaw led a reform movement propounding the virtues of free thought. He drew much correspondence for the pages of the Independent Pulpit from across the state. In 1890 he was instrumental in the organization of the Liberal Society of Texas. Shaw was well known as a public speaker and was active in civic and political affairs for many years. He held the rank of captain in the Pat Cleburne Camp of Confederate Veterans, was a member of the board of aldermen for the City of Waco, and served as a member of the executive committee to formulate the commission form of city government for the city. He helped organize the Humane Society of Waco. Shaw married twice. His first wife, Lucy Frances, died in 1881, two weeks after the birth of their sixth child, leaving Shaw with a family of young children. Several months later the baby also died. In 1884 he married Rachella Dodson. She died on March 29, 1902. In 1910 Shaw moved to Glendale, California, with his daughter. He died there on December 3, 1926. Later his remains were returned to Waco for burial in Oakwood Cemetery.

Granville Clifford Shaw, son of James and Mary (Long) Shaw, was born in Marshall County, Tennessee, March 19, 1817, and came to Texas in 1836 to help this struggling young republic win her independence from Mexico. After the revolution he took up stock farming, and lived in the state until his death, July 16, 1890. During the war between the states, being a veteran of the Texas Republic, he helped to drill the two first companies that went from Johnson County, and served in the Home Guards and frontier service. He married Mary Ann Manning, who was born in Alabama, May 21, 1822, and was brought to Texas when a small child by her parents, Stephen and Elizabeth Manning. She died September 28, 1856, leaving three children. James Dixon Shaw, the other son, was for twelve years a leading minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and afterward a publisher of ethical journals, one being the Independent Pulpit, afterward the Searchlight. He also was a Confederate soldier, being a member of Company C, Tenth Texas Infantry, Granbury’s Brigade, Cleburne’s Division. He came out of the war with the rank of lieutenant, and is now living retired at Los Angeles, California, having for many years been a prominent citizen of Waco, Texas.

J. D. Shaw was born December 27, 1841, in Walker county, Texas. He went to school a little before the war, but on account of weak eyes had to be kept at home. He went through the war on the Confederate side, and was a lieutenant at the close. After the war he found his eyes had become stronger, hence he set about obtaining an education, which he did by hard work, having lost everything by the war. He joined the Northwest Texas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal church South in November, 1870. His first three years' work for them was as a teacher in Marvin College ; then on circuits and stations, concluding with four years as station preacher in "Waco. He withdrew from the church (was not expelled, as some suppose) in November, 1882, having served twelve years. When he left the church he occupied the following positions of importance among Methodist preachers : Delegate to the general conference (this being his second term as such) ; a member of the general missionary board ; secretary of the conference missionary board ; a member of the board of curators of South Western University ; a member of the board of publication ; associate editor of Texas " Christian Advocate," and a member of the conference faculty. These facts assure the good standing in the church of Mr. Shaw. He was never in any trouble with the church, and when lie found that he could no longer preach her doctrines he withdrew, and had no other reason for so doinof. The church honored him for his work, anrl the " ConfRrence Journal " from November, 1870, to November, 1882. shows that he did his work well.

He lectured in Waco six years, until the hall was burned ; established the "Independent Pulpit" in March, 1883, and has written and published five little books : " The Bible: What Is It ?" " Studies in Theology ;" " The Human Nature of Jesus ;" " The Bible Against Itself ;" " Liberalism." These have all run through two or three editions. Six thousand copies of " The Bible : What Is It?" have been sold. Mr. Shaw assisted in organizing the Liberal Association of Texas, and was its president the first year. He is now secretary. Mr. Shaw was married to Lucie F. Mosley, Feb. 1, 1870. Six children were born to them. She died Jan. 25, 1881, and his youngest child died six months later. The rest of the children are now living. October 1, 1884, he married Mrs. Ellen D. McCoy, who is still living. The whole family are Liberals.